Industry and Research Heavyweights Collaborate to Demonstrate Data Transport Capability at SC07

High-Performance Computing and Communications Organizations Pool Capabilities to Support Vast Bandwidth Needs for Particle Physics and Other Applications

RENO, Nevada, November 12, 2007 - A group of research and industry technology leaders today announced two demonstrations at SC07 Conference in Reno, Nevada to show leading-edge capabilities designed for the high-bandwidth needs of the research community worldwide. The demonstrations involve the transport of large volumes of data at rates significantly in excess of 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) by infrastructure built to support the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) over a 40-Gbps network, and the use of Generalized Multi Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS) User-to-Network Interface (UNI) signaling between routers and optical systems to provision bandwidth on demand.

"The cooperation between these leading technology organizations is a model of collaboration that propels innovation. Our members from industry and the research community are working together to push the technology boundaries so scientific researchers can do things that would have been unimaginable ten years ago," said Rick Summerhill, chief technology officer, Internet2. "These demonstrations are exemplary of the benefits resulting from sharing knowledge and resources to usher in the next wave of technological advancements."

The first demonstration involves high-volume data transmission between Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory's (Fermilab) LHC Tier 1 mass storage system and the SC07 show floor over a wide-area 40-Gbps network infrastructure, the highest-speed networking service available today. The LHC Tier 1 will transfer data at speeds significantly in excess of 10 Gbps to the LHC Tier 2 computational infrastructure in the Caltech booth on the SC07 show floor.

The second demonstration involves the use of GMPLS User-to-Network (UNI) signaling between routers and optical systems to enable the optical and IP layers in the network to work together for maximum intelligence and flexibility to network users.

Over the course of the two-day SC07 exhibition session, each participating organization--Caltech, ESnet, Fermilab, Infinera, Internet2, Juniper Networks, and Level 3 Communications--is leveraging its unique networking, computation, and storage capabilities to support the demonstration.

Demonstration participants include:

o The California Institute of Technology, a leading institution of higher education and home to the first LHC Tier-2 center at Caltech's Center for Advanced Computing Research, is using its latest computing cluster to receive and store multi-terabyte volumes of data. The Caltech high-energy physics and network engineering teams, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation in the U.S. LHCNet and UltraLight projects, are leading developers of high-speed data transfers over long distances and managers of transatlantic networking in support of the LHC physics program in conjunction with CERN and ESnet. The Caltech team will deploy an open-source Java application to allow stable reading and writing of data with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) at disk read/write speeds over long-distance networks.

o ESnet, the Department of Energy's high-speed network providing interoperable communications infrastructure to the U.S. national laboratories and enabling the work of thousands of scientists and collaborators worldwide, is providing domestic connectivity for the demonstration through its Chicago Area MAN, built in partnership with IWIRE (Illinois Wired Infrastructure for Research and Education). Its new network, ESnet4, is built specifically to support the requirements of large-scale scientific research while improving the reliability of IP connectivity.

o Fermilab, a national laboratory funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy and operated by the Fermi Research Alliance, LLC, is the prime host site in the U.S. for data gathered by the CMS experiment at the LHC in Geneva. The lab is simulating LHC CMS Tier 1 to Tier 2 data movement by sending multiple 10-Gbps streams of data to the Chicago POP in the Internet2 network to demonstrate the high-bandwidth requirements and capabilities of the facility.

o Infinera, a leading provider of digital optical communications systems, is deploying its optical systems to carry the data across the nationwide Internet2 network. Infinera's Digital Optical Networking systems use bandwidth virtualization to enable 40-Gbps services to travel over existing optical infrastructures, including those designed for 10-Gbps services. With integrated bandwidth management and GMPLS-powered service intelligence, Infinera systems are able to provide a wide range of GMPLS features and interoperability with Juniper routers.

o Internet2, focused largely on the investigation and implementation of leading-edge network technology including 40-Gbps to support its members' future bandwidth needs, is providing the flexible, scalable network to enable the large-scale data transfer. By implementing the 40-Gbps solution on its backbone for the demonstration, Internet2's network will act as a test bed to drive the development of new bandwidth services and improve general knowledge surrounding emerging technologies.

o Juniper Networks, the leader in high-performance networking, is providing the Juniper Networks T640 and new T1600 multi-terabit routers to handle the Fermilab LHC traffic on either side of the optical-transport network. The traffic will initially pass to the Infinera optical-transport gear in Chicago before arriving at SC07. The data transfer will use 40-Gbps-capable OC-768 interfaces designed to address the increased bandwidth and collaboration demands of the research and multimedia communities.

o Level 3 Communications, an international communications company operating one of the largest Internet backbones in the world, is offering supporting services for the high-bandwidth demonstrations. As an active member of the research and education community, Level 3 provides connectivity solutions that are highly focused on enabling innovation and collaboration across the community.